Sebastian J. Spicker

The instrument uses the smartphone camera for exoplanet transit photometry and onboard sensors for orientation and alignment. The measurement is real — not a simulation.

Inquiry-based design: students formulate the observation hypothesis, handle calibration, and identify sources of error independently. Data contributes to a shared cross-institutional dataset.

Low-cost hardware by design. Removing the mystification of scientific instruments is part of the pedagogy — if students can build it themselves, they understand what it measures.

Vocabulary incompleteness: models conflate world knowledge with output vocabulary. Logit lens analysis shows the correct semantic concept is represented internally — but the corresponding token does not exist in the fixed vocabulary, so the model approximates without flagging the gap.

Grounding failure: models cannot access current world-state. Asked whether to drive to a car wash in rain, the model averages over training contexts — not a knowledge gap, but an architecturally absent access to 'right now'.

Pragmatic inference failure: the model has all required information but applies literal semantics where cooperative intent inference (Grice's maxims) is required. Each failure type has a different formal cause and requires a different mitigation.

Music students applied structured reflection protocols to their own artistic decision-making — treating practice sessions as data. The underlying question: can making implicit processes explicit improve artistic development?

The connection to physics pedagogy is direct: both domains combine formal structure (voice leading rules ≈ physical laws) with exploratory practice. Research methods transfer in both directions.

Produced reflection formats now integrated into conservatory pedagogy at HfMT Cologne. Cologne University of Music and Dance, 2020–2023.

Designed from scratch rather than adapted from standard lessons — adaptation tends to preserve the hidden assumptions that create barriers in the first place.

Structural principles: fixed opening routine, consistent visual layout, explicit advance notice of all transitions. Pacing aligned to processing speed rather than curriculum coverage.

Iterated from direct observation: moments where students disengaged were treated as design failures, not student failures.